This disclosure relates to a wheel caster assembly and more particularly to a caster brake assembly for selectively inhibiting movement of a caster.
Casters are used to support and move various equipment or structures such as furniture, chairs, and bed frames. Casters can include one or two wheels and are employed to easily move or roll the structure to which the casters are mounted or attached. Generally, the casters have consisted of a central mounting member having an off-centered stem or a pintle extending up from the central mounting member. One or more wheels are mounted to the central mounting member. The stem is typically inserted into a socket plate that is fixed to a leg or other means of mounting the caster to the structure. In this manner, the caster may swivel to facilitate movement and maneuvering of the structure.
In a particular application, casters have been used on bed frames for many years. A bed frame typically is constructed of various structural members such as side rails and cross members that are connected to the side rails to form a rigid structure that supports a box spring and a mattress. The side rails and the cross members include leg portions that extend downwardly to elevate the structural members above the floor. Each of the leg portions have fitted or inserted therein a caster assembly to provide easy movement of the structural members, the box spring, and the mattress. The caster assembly is usually constructed having a rotatable roller to provide movement of the bed frame. The caster assembly also generally has a stem that fits into a corresponding connector in the leg portion. The caster assembly is capable of pivoting or swiveling through 360 degrees of motion about an axis of the stem.
There are applications when the caster assembly is in place that the caster assembly needs to be prevented from further movement. For example, once a bed is positioned within a room it may be desirable to prevent the bed from further movement. If the bed were close to other furniture or a window it would be advantageous to limit any movement of the bed to guard against contacting or scratching other furniture or breaking the window. Further, caster assemblies may be part of a chair. There are times when movement of the chair needs to be restricted. For example, when standing on the chair to reach a book placed high in a bookshelf movement of the chair should be prevented. In order to inhibit movement of a caster assembly a brake mechanism may be incorporated into the caster assembly. However, known caster assemblies having brake mechanisms are complex and do not sufficiently prevent movement of the caster assembly. Some known caster assemblies having a brake are also difficult to operate.
The present construction is designed to obviate and overcome many of the disadvantages and shortcomings associated with prior casters. In particular, the present construction is a caster brake assembly that has a brake mechanism that locks onto a wheel to prevent movement of the wheel.